2010 MPM #15

Rebekah watched Food, Inc., recently in her yoga class. I'm really glad. I truly believe every adult should watch that movie. I learned a lot when I watched it, she learned a lot when she watched it, and it's definitely changing the way I shop. [sidebar: it's on Wednesday on PBS, locally it's on at 9:00 p.m.. If you haven't seen it, I highly encourage you to watch it--it really gives you a lot to think about.]

Anyway...one of the points from the movie that has really stuck with both Rebekah and me is the idea that when we grocery shop we're voting with our dollars. True that. The more I think about that the more I think about how important it is to respect that fact.

We all went to the grocery store together this weekend. That never happens. It was fun though, and eye opening. Well, we were shopping after church, we were getting hungry, it was racing ever closer to lunchtime, and we were trying to decide what to get for lunch. I've been wanting to try Pioneer Woman's sloppy joes, and I thought about getting the ingredients for that. I asked one of the employees at Walmart if the ground beef is ground at the store, no, it's shipped in from a mass producer. Potentially that means that ground beef could come from many, many animals, greatly increasing the likelihood of contamination. I will no longer be buying meat that is mass-ground at some processing plant. We talked about buying all sorts of things, vetoing all of them on health grounds. Time was passing, I finally said, let's just buy something and plan better next time. Rebekah said, "but Mom, we really are voting with our dollars, it makes a difference." She was right. Moreover, I was really proud that she was smart enough to "get it". We all happily left, a little hungrier, but glad to be sticking with our priorities. I'll go to another grocery store tomorrow to purchase pork, meat, and chicken that I can feel good about. I will no longer be buying ground beef that I don't know the source of, I will not buy chicken that is processed in questionable ways, I will do my best to make choices for my family that I feel better about. I will remember that I am voting with my grocery dollars and I will do my best to make every vote count.

Check out more Meal Plans at Organizing Junkies

Monday: Grandma's Chicken & Rice, green beans, applesauce, PW's Rosemary rolls
Tuesday (piano): PW's sloppy joes, cheesy potato casserole, carrots & celery, Midwest Living's best Chocolate Chip Cookie
Wednesday: Leftovers, pot luck
Thursday: Grilled pork chops w/smokey apple bbq sauce, baked sweet potatoes w/brown sugar nutmeg butter, brussel's sprouts, broccoli
Friday: ??

Hope you all have a good week. :)